Liquid ammonia chemistry

Concerning the "ultimate" base, one might choose various small, highly charged ions such as H. F , or O--, all of which are indeed quite basic. However, the electron appears to be the complement of the proton. It might be objected that the isolated electron has even less justification as a chemical entity than the proton, but solutions (and even solids) are known in which electrons are the anionic species And interestingly, solutions containing "free" electrons are very basic. This topic will be discussed in further detail in the section on liquid ammonia chemistry in the next chapter. 

Steroid Reactions, Holden-Day, Inc., San Francisco (1963), pp 267-88, 299-325 Organic Reactions in Liquid Ammonia, Chemistry in Non-Aqueous Ionizing Solvents, Wiley, New York (1963), Vol 1, part 2... 

In organic chemistry the term refers to compounds containing the NH2 ion or the > NH group. These are prepared by the action of heat on amides or by metathetica reactions in liquid ammonia. The heavy metal imides are explosive. 

The alkali metals have the interesting property of dissolving in some non-aqueous solvents, notably liquid ammonia, to give clear coloured solutions which are excellent reducing agents and are often used as such in organic chemistry. Sodium (for example) forms an intensely blue solution in liquid ammonia and here the outer (3s) electron of each sodium atom is believed to become associated with the solvent ammonia in some way, i.e. the system is Na (solvent) + e" (sohem). 

Solutions of alkali metals in liquid ammonia are used in organic chemistry as reducing agents. The deep blue solutions effectively contain solvated electrons (p. 126), for example... 

For general practical instructions concerning reactions in liquid ammonia one should consult "Preparative Acetylenic Chemistry", Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1971. 

The benzyl group has been widely used for the protection of hydroxyl functions in carbohydrate and nucleotide chemistry (C.M. McCloskey, 1957 C.B. Reese, 1965 B.E. Griffin, 1966). A common benzylation procedure involves heating with neat benzyl chloride and strong bases. A milder procedure is the reaction in DMF solution at room temperatiue with the aid of silver oxide (E. Reinefeld, 1971). Benzyl ethers are not affected by hydroxides and are stable towards oxidants (e.g. periodate, lead tetraacetate), LiAIH, amd weak acids. They are, however, readily cleaved in neutral solution at room temperature by palladium-catalyzed bydrogenolysis (S. Tejima, 1963) or by sodium in liquid ammonia or alcohols (E.J. Rcist, 1964). 

W. L. Jolly and C. J. Hallada, Liquid ammonia. Chap. 1 in T. C. WaDDINGTON (ed.), Non-aqueous Solvent Systems, pp. 1-45, Academic Press, London, 1965. J. C. Thompson, The physical properties of metal solutions in non-aqueous solvents. Chap. 6 in J. Lagowski (ed.). The Chemistry of Non-aqueous Solvents, Vol. 2, pp. 265-317, Academic Press, New York, 1967. J. Jander (ed.). Chemistry in Anhydrous Liquid Ammonia, Wiley, Interscience, New York, 1966, 561 pp. 

D. Nicholls, Inorganic Chemistry in Liquid Ammonia Topics in Inorganic and General Chemistry, Monograph 17, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1979, 238 pp. 

The chemistry of elemental sulfur and sulfur-rich molecules including polysulfides in liquid ammonia [82] and in primary as well as secondary amines [83] is complex because of the possible formation of sulfur-nitrogen compounds. Therefore, polysulfide solutions in these solvents will not be discussed here. Inert solvents which have often been used are dimethylfor-mamide (DMF) [84-86], tetrahydrofuran (THF) [87], dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) [87], and hexamethylphosphoric triamide (HMPA) [86, 88]. 

Exchange reactions, hydrogen isotope, of organic compounds in liquid ammonia, 1, 156 Exchange reactions, oxygen isotope, of organic compounds, 2, 123 Excited complexes, chemistry of, 19,1 Excited molecules, structure of electronically, 3, 365... 

If there is one radical difference between chemistry in water and liquid ammonia, it is in the behavior toward group IA metals. When placed in water, these metals liberate hydrogen in vigorous reactions such as... 

There is an extensive chemistry associated with the use of liquid ammonia as a nonaqueous solvent (see Chapter 10). Because it has a dielectric constant of 22 and a dipole moment of 1.46 D, ammonia dissolves many ionic and polar substances. However, reactions are frequently different than in water as a result of differences in solubility. For example, in water the following reaction takes place because of the insolubility of AgCl ... 

Some illustrative examples of the application of 14N NMR spectroscopy in sulfur-nitrogen chemistry include (a) studies of the (NSC1)3<->3NSC1 equilibrium in solution28 and (b) identification of the S-N species present in solutions of sulfur in liquid ammonia.29... 

---